This decorated cricket stump was dropped off at my office just before the summer holidays (see photo gallery below story). It has been split in two, with hinges at each end to allow it to fully open, displaying the flags of Great Britain and the Netherlands. The words Utile Dulci and Berkhampstead have been scratched and coloured on the top part and Deventer 15.16 Juli 1971 on the lower part. The outside of the stump has been embellished with tiny metal plates, denoting the year and the winning team. The top two years were missing but they have now been replaced. The 1974 plate simply reads ‘RAIN’!

The cricket tour, introduced in 1971 by John Davis, a past MiC of cricket, took the Berkhamsted team all around Holland and Utile Dulci and Berkhamsted hosted the tours on alternate years until 1985.